Hey. I'm Melissa.

I'm Jam.

And I'm a chemist.

And I'm not.

And welcome to Chemistry For Your Life, kids edition.

The podcast that helps you hang out and do chemistry with your kids.

Okay. So this is obviously something a little bit different that Jim and I are trying to do. But I have received a lot of requests from my students, from listeners, from just different people For activities to do at home with kids or for explanations about activities that you can find to do with your kids. And I love this idea. I love working with kids.

I love getting them excited about chemistry. If that could be my job, that's what I would do. But then I wouldn't get to do other parts of my job that I love, so, you know, I guess it could be. But and then I'm even considering making a kid's board book about science for little kids to just help them get exposed to things. So that's something that I really, really feel passionate about.

And when this idea came up, I jumped all over it. So we're gonna test it out and see what you guys think. If you like it, we're gonna keep releasing these once a month as bonus episodes addition to our regular bonus, don't worry. We'll still have q and r. And it will just be a way that helps you hang out with your kids and talk to them about science.

Nothing's cooler than, like, getting to experience some cool science when you're a kid. I remember, like, you know, going to a children's museum and seeing some kinda interesting example of the different science things and just being like, woah, and getting a little bit of that awe, that the world is Interesting, and there's so much to learn. That's such a cool thing that sticks with you, I think, when you're a kid. So

Oh, absolutely. I totally agree. And I've gotten to see some of that because I lived with a family when the kids are pretty young.

Mhmm.

And I got to see them grow up, and we did some science experiments, and they associate science with fun. When I come over, they say, Melissa's coming. We're gonna do science. We're so Excited. And so that's something that I think is really important to associate science with fun and keep that awe and wonder Because some parts of it are really hard, and you have to dig in and learn a lot as you get older, but it should be fun

Mhmm.

As well. And so you can help science You can help kids have that association of science with fun.

Yeah. Awesome. I'm excited.

Well, you should be excited because you're gonna be a dad soon, so you gotta learn how to hang out with kids. You know what I'm saying?

I know. We we gotta, this would be great because I can stockpile And these cool experiments as we do them and and talk about them, and then by the time my son is is Able to perceive and enjoy a science experiment. I'll have a long list, hopefully.

And you can start pretty young. A science experiment even for kids 2 may be a little bit too young, but I think we started at their 3rd birthday. I I think that's when I got their 1st science kit for them.

Mhmm.

And then it can be really easy stuff. You know? Does this flow or not? That's a science experiment.

Mhmm.

Density, you know, and get more complex as we go on. Yeah. So I'm gonna give you some advice on how I think you should frame the event and sort of talk through that. And then I'm also gonna try to talk through some questions to be asking your kids while you're doing your Science fun time.

Sweet.

So first, I really think that this should be an event. So we're all gonna gather around. We're gonna put on our goggles. We're gonna do science this afternoon, and it's really exciting, and get them in that mindset The oh, yay. We get to do science.

It's gonna be fun. Oh my gosh. Yay. And I think if you can have the goggles, if If you have the means to get a science kit for young kids, I think I use one called learning resources that I like. They had plastic beakers and flasks.

Mhmm.

Came with goggles, or you can do the mail signs kits. There's a link in our bio for you to go and get. They have Nice, legit, actual glassware, the same kind that we use in the lab, or you can just order stuff on Amazon. Individual beakers, Goggles, sometimes craft stores have that. Hardware stores will have goggles, and then you could have the same experience without going through buying a whole kit.

But I think having a special set of things that this is our science equipment kinda makes it more exciting and fun for the kids too.

Yeah. That is fun. It's like you see those things in, you know, TV or movies or whatever, and then to see them in real life and get to use them as like, oh, really doing it? We're doing science.

Right. Yeah. Oh, yeah. They love my friends love doing science, and they're 67 now, and they're still So excited about it. We've been doing it since they were, like, 3 or 4, so it's great.

And it always helps if You let them use food coloring? So be prepared for a little bit of a mess. Be comfortable with that. Be ready for it to be messy. It's a fun time where they're using all their senses.

Okay. So today's specific experiment that we're gonna talk about is to fill a listener request. This is from Emily s.

Okay.

And Emily asked if we could explain this lava lamp experiment that has been maybe circulating on the kids At home science websites. As I think part of COVID nineteen, it's a suggestion for a fun thing to do with kids. So in this experiment, you need oil, food coloring, Alka Seltzer, a water bottle, a wine bottle, a glass, anything clear and see through.

Okay.

And I recommend that you invest in a funnel so that you can let your kids pour liquid in this science experiment. One time, we were doing science, and I turned to the kid's mom and said, they're gonna think all I do at my job is pour liquids back and forth. And then I went to my job the next day and realized how often I just was pouring things Back

and forth. I was like,

oh, dang. They're right. All kids do is Yeah.

These kids are gonna think that, and they're gonna be correct.

They're gonna be correct. I dissolve stuff and then pour it and then evaporate it and then dissolve it and pour it and evaporate it. Yeah. So that was kinda a fun realization.

So I I recommend you let the kids do a lot of the pouring Because that makes it really fun. They don't get to pour stuff a lot. You know? Again, be ready for it to be messy. Do it outside.

Do it in a bucket. Mhmm. So fill your bottle or glass, whatever, about 2 thirds full of a clear oil, veggie oil, canola oil, mineral oil, whatever you have. And if you have a set, a chemistry set like we talked about, it's fun for you to pour it into the beaker so it's a smaller amount, easier for them to lift up, and then they can pour it into the bottle from a beaker or a flask, whatever you have on hand.

Mhmm.

And then have, in a separate beaker or fat flask or glass, whatever you have, water with food coloring in it. It'd be fun if you have multiple kids to let the different kids pick their food coloring.

Oh, nice.

So they all have different colors or whatever. You know, let them put the food coloring in little by little. You don't want it too dark, but dark enough that you can see it.

Mhmm.

Then pour the colored water into the bottle, and you want to fill it not quite all the way to the top. You want a little bit of air space because there's gonna be some bubbles. So once you've got that in there, it should form 2 layers, the water on the bottom because it's more dense in the oil on top. And you can ask them questions about this, and it questions are gonna vary for grade level. But you could ask them, do you think the oil on top Is heavier, or do you think the water's heavier?

Do you think you know, if it's older kids, you could say, which one of these liquids do you think is more dense? Or you could ask the older kids, do you know why water and oil don't mix together? Or you could ask the younger kids, Do you think oil and water are mixing here, or do you think the oil and the water are separate? You know, you can ask those questions. And these These are scientific questions.

It may seem kinda simple, but what you're doing here is asking them to observe and then think.

Mhmm.

And that's really important and valuable in a scientific mindset. That is what I aim to do in my labs when I'm teaching classes. I want my students to Look at what they're doing in the lab and tell me what they think it means. That's scientific thinking. That's scientific discovery.

So it may seem like you're asking the So it may seem like you're asking the kinda simple questions, but you really are getting them to think like a scientist at their level. So I think it's great and super fun.

Nice. Yeah. That makes sense because even if they're wrong, it's, like, gets you thinking about stuff. Like, Even if like in our other episodes, if I'm wrong about my explanation back, then it helps be a moment where I can then learn it the right way or whatever. But it forces me to think about it, and actually try to answer it rather than just having information, you know, washing over me kinda thing.

Right. Exactly. It's it's great for them to be able to make those connections and not be afraid of getting it wrong. It's all part of fun. This is fun science time.

You know? Yeah. So after you've done that and you talked about it, taking a little bit of time, you don't have to ask a ton of questions. 1, 2 is fine. Just get them thinking a little bit, And then you can drop in your Alka Seltzer tabs.

So how many tabs you do is probably gonna depend on what size bottle you're using. If you're just doing, like, a water cup, you probably are only gonna maybe put 1 or half of 1. If you have a big 2 liter, You're gonna maybe put 2 in there, but break them up and add them slowly so you can kinda see. Do not put a lid on a bottle with the Alka Seltzer tab in because the pressure's gonna build up. It'll explode.

Yikes.

So don't do that. Don't put a lid on there.

Yikes.

So when you put the Alka seltzer tap in, what happens chemically is you've got some gas being released, and the gas is interacting with the water, and it's Pulling the water up with it because the gas is not dense, but it's got intermolecular forces like we talked about in our Gecko episode and some other episodes. Mhmm. And the water and the gas are going to have those intermolecular forces. And as the gas that's less dense rises, it'll bring the water with it. Then the gas will pop, and our water is left behind.

It's gonna sink back down to the bottom because it's more dense than the oil.

Mhmm.

So that process makes it look like a lava lamp. Over and over, though, water's rising and then falling back down. Water's rising and then falling back down. So when you put the Alka Seltzer in, ask your kids to describe what's happening. Let them wonder and say, oh, oh my gosh.

Wow. And then say, What's happening? And they can describe it however they want in their own words. Oh, the water's coming up. The green stuff's coming up.

You know? Whatever you Whatever words, that's good. Yeah. And then you can ask them questions. Do you think the oil and water are mixing?

And and this is a great example because They could say yes or no, and either one kinda makes sense. The oil and water are in the same place now and they weren't before, but they're not Mixing in the same way that other things mix, you know, so you can have a conversation with them about it. Oh, yeah. It does seem like the water's sort of where the oil is now, or, Yeah. You're right.

Even though the water's moving up, it's not mixing with the oil on the same way. It's still in its little blobs. You know? Either one of those answers is right and valid. Yeah.

So for older kids, you could ask them, do you think the water changed density, or what do you think is happening Beyond that, if the water doesn't change density, or why do you think the water changed density? You know, see if they can draw some of those connections. And if they can't, that's okay too. But just giving them the opportunity to think and wonder and observe is gonna be really great for them. So that's the basics of that experiment, but I have an idea for some other things you can do.

Sweet. That already sounds like a really cool experiment.

It's a super cool, super fun experiment. You make the lava lamp. You can watch it. But I like to use this opportunity once you've finished an experiment to say yes to anything the kids wanna do. Oh, can we see what happens if you put all the food coloring in?

I mean, don't waste all your food coloring? But yeah. Sure. Can we pour it back out of the bottle? Yeah.

No problem. Let's Do it. And just make this an opportunity where they get to come up with ideas and see what happens. And then if you wanna them a little excited, or you can even do this at the same time. You can say, what if we tried adding soap instead of Alka Seltzer?

And see what happens. And it will mix in a different way. It won't have the bubbles go up and down, but you'll get That mixture where the soap is bringing the water and oil together, and that could look really cool.

Mhmm.

So you could ask them, what do you think would happen if we put Soap in here. You know? Oh, should we try this again with something else? You know? You could do that.

Or if you're not afraid of a mess And you're outside, you could tell your kids to stand back, and you could drop a lot of alka seltzer in and see if it bubbles over like a volcano. You could just see what happens. Yeah. Or you could let them ask questions and let them try to see what happens and give them the opportunity to try out their ideas in a safe, fun environment, and that is Science.

Yeah. Dude, that's way cool. Those are fun. I feel like my mom will wish that she had had These ideas whenever we were kids because the we're 3 boys, and in the summer, I know she got sick of us, you know, running around and messing things up or being being bored or whatever. So Yeah.

We would've loved to do something like this.

Well and what's kinda fun about making this, Time of, sure, do whatever you want is there's not a ton of damage kids could do outside with oil, water, and food coloring.

Right.

They could do some, you know, but not a ton, and it takes up time. And having a better opinion of science is gonna serve them for the rest of their lives. So I think it's fun, and it's an opportunity for you to lay the groundwork for a future for them. And it's not terribly expensive stuff. It's a lot of

Wanna also do the experiments. And so we're gonna try it out. Give us feedback. Let us know things you like about, things you don't. Wish we could do it better.

Or if you don't like it at all, let us know that too. We we love your feedback. We wanna make sure the podcast is useful and and helpful to you guys. We love getting to hear your feedback whether it's it's, to change things or that we're that you like what we're doing. Either way.

Another good resource for experiments for kids is the American Chemical Society. They're really trustworthy source, and they've got a lot of good content If you just wanna do a lot of experiments faster than we put these out, then then definitely check them out, and we'll link to them in our show notes. This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Kleiny and Jame Robinson. We'd like to give a special thanks to e Robinson who reviewed this episode.